A disturbing prospect looms before us, as Americans consider the possibility of a second term for President Barack Obama.

Millions of conservatives who revere the Constitution, with its guarantees of freedom and limited government, have watched with alarm as the campaign season has unfolded. Could the American people actually give this radical narcissist four more years at the helm after his having wrecked the economy, undermined religious liberty, weakened the institution of the family, surrounded himself with Marxists and leftist czars, turned his back on Israel, virtually bankrupt our nation, forced recipients of health insurance to support abortion, declared himself to favor same-sex marriage, weakened our armed forces, covered up the Fast and Furious debacle, and assaulted the principles of free enterprise that made the United States the most envied and prosperous nation on earth?

His health-care initiative is a disaster, and his unilateral decision to end workfare and return to a system of welfare is inexcusable. This incompetent man began his presidency with an “apology tour” to bash our great nation to foreigners, bowed in deference to the king of Saudi Arabia, and then put America on the road to ruin. Despite this dismal record, polls show he has at least an even chance of winning another term in November.

How did Barack Obama rise from nowhere to become the most powerful man on earth? That question was posed by Matt Patterson, writing in American Thinker:

“Years from now, historians may regard the 2008 election of Barack Obama as an inscrutable and disturbing phenomenon, the result of a baffling breed of mass hysteria akin perhaps to the witch craze of the Middle Ages. How, they will wonder, did a man so devoid of professional accomplishment beguile so many into thinking he could manage the world’s largest economy, direct the world’s most powerful military, execute the world’s most consequential job?

“Imagine a future historian examining Obama’s pre-presidential life: ushered into and through the Ivy League despite unremarkable grades and test scores along the way; a cushy non-job as a ‘community organizer’; a brief career as a state legislator devoid of legislative achievement (and in fact nearly devoid of his attention, so often did he vote ‘present’); and finally an unaccomplished single term in the United States Senate, the entirety of which was devoted to his presidential ambitions. He left no academic legacy in academia, authored no signature legislation as a legislator.

“And then there is the matter of his troubling associations: the white-hating, America-loathing preacher who for decades served as Obama’s ‘spiritual mentor’; [and] a real-life, actual terrorist who served as Obama’s colleague and political sponsor. It is easy to imagine a future historian looking at it all and asking: how on Earth was such a man elected president? … Not one original idea has ever issued from his mouth – it’s all warmed-over Marxism of the kind that has failed over and over again for 100 years. …

“In short: our president is a small and small-minded man, with neither the temperament nor the intellect to handle his job. When you understand that, and only when you understand that, will the current erosion of liberty and prosperity make sense. It could not have gone otherwise with such a man in the Oval Office.”

Matt Patterson has described with precision the utter incompetence and moral failure of our president. And let’s be honest about it. Barack Obama was a fabrication of the mainstream media that selected him for office, created his poser image as a messiah and hid his shortcomings from the public. The new project of the liberal media is to get him re-elected. As Ronald Reagan said to Jimmy Carter, “There you go again.”

That brings us to the candidacy of Mitt Romney, the only man who stands between America and four more years of Obama madness. The governor is burdened by his own catalog of bad decisions and liberal policies through the years. I sense that he is not a true conservative on many issues. For example, he damaged his standing with social conservatives by the way he seriously mishandled the Chick-fil-A matter. In response to an outpouring of sentiment from citizens who believe in traditional marriage, Romney said the Chick-fil-A controversy was “not part of my campaign.” It was a costly mistake.

My greatest concern is that Mitt Romney seldom addresses the social issues publicly. He may have mentioned them briefly in obscure blogs, but he skirts them on the campaign trail. I’m referring to the sanctity of human life, the traditional definition of marriage and religious liberty. He acquiesced to Obama’s termination of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy of the armed forces and said he had no intention of attempting to reverse it. He has said next to nothing about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or the appointment of strict constructionist judges and justices. His silence on the issues that matter may explain why many evangelicals and conservative Catholics are apathetic about Gov. Romney’s candidacy. Few of them will vote for Barack Obama, but millions might stay at home. We are less than three months away from a make-or-break general election. Romney could connect with his conservative base if he will address the issues they care about.

In my view, it is not enough for a national leader to talk only about money (taxes, the economy, jobs, the deficit, etc.). Doing so fails to tap into the soul of America. Right and wrong matter too, as does our national defense and the well-being of families. Gov. Romney’s message thus far has been extremely narrow. He has become a “Johnny-one-note” that accounts for the lack of enthusiasm among some Americans.

Despite my criticism of Gov. Romney, I plan to vote for him in November and hope my conservative countrymen will do the same. The selection of Rep. Paul Ryan greatly strengthens the ticket, in my view. He is decidedly pro-life, pro-marriage and a solid conservative. Gov. Romney is to be congratulated for this selection, which makes it much easier for me to support his candidacy. Besides, staying at home on election day is simply not an option. Remember that either Romney or Obama is likely to nominate two Supreme Court justices in the next term. I pray that it is not the latter. Our country will never recover from four more years with Barack Obama at the helm.